I frequently hear from friends, colleagues, and fellow believers: “Is AI going to take my job?” The anxiety is real, the headlines are dramatic, and the uncertainty feels overwhelming.
But as Christians, we have something unique to offer this conversation. We have a framework for understanding technological change that goes beyond fear. We have a theology of work, innovation, and human dignity that can guide us through this rapid transformation.
A Biblical View of AI & Human Innovation
Before we dive into practical concerns, let’s establish that artificial intelligence is not fundamentally different from any other tool humans have created.
AI has been around since the 1950s, present in everyday technology we’ve come to rely on, like email spam filters and driving directions in map apps. We talk so much about AI today because in November 2022, ChatGPT took everyone by surprise with its conversational capabilities, and similar technologies have continued to impress. However, as I have written before, “Despite all our advances in designing silicon-based ‘intelligence,’ the architecture and capabilities of human and animal nervous systems reflects the amazing detail God has infused into us as human beings. As we learn more about intelligence through our own God-inspired creativity, we learn how complex it really is.”
Genesis 1:27-28 says humans are made in God’s image and called to exercise dominion over creation. This includes the remarkable capacity for creativity and innovation that sets us apart from the rest of creation. When we develop new technologies—from the wheel, to the printing press, to the internet, to AI—we’re exercising this God-given calling to be co-creators and stewards.
AI systems, for all their sophistication, remain tools created by humans to extend human capabilities. They process information, recognize patterns, and automate tasks, but they lack consciousness, moral agency, and the creative spark that comes from being made in God’s image. As the Psalmist reminds us in Psalm 8:5, humans are “crowned” with “glory and honor,” a dignity that no algorithm can replicate or replace.
We shouldn’t be naive about AI’s power or potential risks. But we can approach this technology with confidence rather than fear, wisdom rather than panic, and hope rather than despair.
Learning from History: Why Technological Disruption is Generally Good News
We’ve been in this situation before. Multiple times.
Automated Teller Machines created a panic in the 1970s, but instead of wiping out bank-teller jobs, cheaper branches let banks open more of them, and tellers shifted toward customer service and sales.
Earlier still, mechanized tractors and combines were expected to empty America’s countryside. Despite farm labor making up nearly half the workforce in 1900 to less than 2% today, booming yields and lower food costs freed tens of millions of people to pursue new, higher-paying work in cities and throughout the modern economy.
In the 1980s, pundits warned spreadsheets like Lotus 1-2-3 would finish off accountants, but the profession grew as number crunching gave way to advisory roles.
Even bar-code scanners, once feared by grocery clerks, sped up checkout so much that retailers expanded and created more cashier and inventory-management jobs than ever.
History keeps teaching the same lesson: new tools automate tasks, but they also enlarge the economic pie and open fresh avenues for human ingenuity.
This pattern isn’t accidental. It reflects how markets work and how humans adapt. When technology makes us more productive, it creates wealth. When it eliminates mundane tasks, it frees us to pursue higher-value activities. When it opens new possibilities, entrepreneurial humans find ways to create value we never imagined.
The key insight is this: technology doesn’t just substitute for human labor, it complements it. AI won’t replace humans; it will augment our capabilities in ways that make them more valuable, not less.
The Abundance Mindset vs. The Scarcity Mindset
That augmentation and supplementation could drive economic growth that enriches everyone. By one estimate, advances in generative AI could give individual Americans $5k to $10k more in their pockets in 10 years. And there are many more benefits that improve quality of life in healthcare and education.
In other words, the world is becoming more abundant and stands to become even more so.
As believers, we live in the tension between God’s ultimate economy of abundance and the reality of scarcity in a fallen world. Scripture promises multiplication and flourishing, such as Jesus overflowing the baskets of bread and fish (Jn. 6) or the master commending servants who grow the talents entrusted to them (Matt. 25:14-30).
Yet Genesis 3 also reminds us that creation now yields its fruit “by the sweat of your brow” (v.19) so scarcity, risk, and trade-offs remain part of ordinary life. Christian stewardship, then, isn’t naive optimism; it’s the sober but hopeful work of using limited resources wisely while trusting God to provide and redeem.
